Container key



June 16, 1959 D. H. WHEATON 2,89

CONTAINER KEY Filefi April 23, 1956 W/ WL 4 MUM IN V EN TOR.

DA v/o HUN 7' WHEA ra/v Unite States Patent CONTAINER KEY iiavid HuntWheaton, Winnetka, 111., assignor to McCann- Erickson Incorporated, NewYork, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Application April 23, 1956, SerialNo. 580,071 2 Claims. (Cl. 22052) This invention relates to keys for theopening of containers and to combinations of such keys with containers,and is particularly concerned with such keys and combinations whichincorporate a removable identifiable means, orpremium coupon.

In the retail marketing of commodities in containers there is an everincreasing efifort to provide some sort of coupon or the like, which canbe detached and used for obtaining some sort of premium, forparticipating in some contest, or for entering into some other salespromotional plan. Where the containers carry some sort of wrapping thatis removable, the coupon can be readily formed as a part of thewrapping, and wrappings for this purpose are readily applicable to theordinary cylindrical cans containing such as food products, which areopened by using one of the conventional can openers. There are alsovarious other schemes employed for carrying coupons in conjunction withsuch cans ranging from using a carrying strip on the outside to placingthe coupon inside when that is not harmful to the contents.

In the case of cans openable by means of a key actuating a tear strip,many of the schemes used in other fields are not workable. Furthermore,the cans involved are often of such small size that the application ofadditional elements is not practical or economic.

This invention is concerned with overcoming the drawbacks in this fieldand takes a big step forward. It does these things by utilizing andmodifying means already present on the cans to perform the additionalfunction of providing an identifiable means, or coupon, without anymaterial increase in structure or cost, particularly without anyaddition in labor cost. All this is done while solving the problem in aninteresting, attractive manner appealable to the customer. Principally,it is effected by modifying the key blank carried by the can for use inactuating the tear strip so that a portion of the key blank is removablefor use as a coupon.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide for thecarrying of identifiable means, or coupons, on containers which areopenable by means of a tear strip.

Another object is to provide such identifiable means, or coupon, whichis carried by the key blank secured to the container.

Still another object is to provide such means which can be readilyremoved from both the container and the key for retention and use asevidence of purchase of the container carrying it.

A more detailed object is to form the identifiable means, or coupon, asan integral part of the key blank for securing to the container.

Ftuther and more detailed objects Will in part be obvious and in part bepointed out as the description of the invention taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing proceeds.

In that drawing, in which the presently preferred and modifiedembodiments of the invention are illustrated:

Fig. l is a bottom plan view of a can of the type normally openable bymeans of a tear strip showing the Patented June 16, 1 959 2 key blank ofthe invention secured in place on that bottom.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the key blank after removal from thecontainer, but prior to the removal of the identifiable means, orcoupon, from the blank.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view similar to Fig. 2 showing the coupon removed.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a somewhat modified form of theinvention.

Fig. '5 is a perspective view of the key blank of Fig. 4 removed fromthe container but with the coupon still attached thereto.

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the key blank of Fig. 5 with the couponand key separated.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view of the coupon of Figs. 5 and 6; and

Fig. 8 is a similar view of a further modified form of coupon.

As indicated heretofore and in the description to follow, theidentifiable means carried by and for removal from the key blank is moreconveniently referred to by theterm coupon. That term will accordinglybe employed in the interests of simplicity of description, but withoutin any means limiting the generality of use for the elements inquestion.

In Fig. 1, the can 1, selected for the purpose of illustration, is ofthe type normally referred to as a sardine can, though it is to beunderstood that the invention is applicable to any cans carrying keysfor use in the opening of a can by means of a tear strip.

The can 1 has a bottom 2 to which the key blank generally indicated at 3is secured. The key blank 3 is here shown as a wire member having ahandle portion 4, a shank 5, and a flattened and widened key section 6slot-ted at 7 for the reception of a tear strip, as is well known inthis art. These parts make up the key when they are freed from the restof the blank.

The complete key blank of the invention has two additional sections 8and 9, preferably formed integrally with the main key stem. The portion8 forms the coupon of the invention, while the securing portions 9 issoldered, or otherwise secured, to the bottom 2 of the can for carryingthe key blank with the can while the sections are still joined.

The section 8 is joined to the section 6 by a frangible section 10 ofreduced cross section, while the portions 8 and 9 are joined together byanother reduced frangible portion 11. Preferably the portion 10 is lessfrangible than the portion 11, since the aim is to remove the key itselfand the section 8 while both are still secured together. This is done byraising the key and breaking the section 8 away from the section 9 atthe portion 11. Then the key can be taken in hand and the coupon 8 canbe readily removed therefrom by breaking it ofif at the portion 10.

The key blank removed from the container, with the frangible portion 10unbroken and the coupon 8 still carried by the section 6, is illustratedin Fig. 2. In Fig. 3 these sections are shown as separated with the keystanding alone, ready for use in opening the container, and with thecoupon 8 removed for retention and use in the obtaining of a premium,entry into a contest, or whatever the merchandising arrangement may be.

It is, of course, to be understood that the frangible portions could beso formed that the key could be broken off at the section 10, as thefirst stepand then the coupon 8 could be broken away from the securedportion 9 at the section 11. However, it is simpler and preferable toremove and separate the key and coupon in the manner first described. Inany event, the coupon 8 should be removed from the key before the tearstrip is wound up, for otherwise the tear strip might overlap it andprevent its removal.

8 of Fig. 1, is thinned out and enlarged so as to be more 6 readilydistinguishable as a separate element and tomore readily carry numbersor other indicia, as indicated ,at

19. This thinning out and enlarging of the section 18 can be effected inthe course of the die operation which flattens the portions 6 and 9 fromthe normal round 1 contour of the wire at 5 and punches the slots 7.Again, by suitable die action, frangible sections 20 and 21 are soformed that the key blank will break off at the section 21, leaving thecoupon 18 joined with the key itself, as illustrated in Fig. 5. readilygrasped and broken away from the remainder of the key as shown in Fig.6.

A slightly difierent form of coupon is shown at 28 in Fig. 8. Here thecoupon is of substantially rectangular form, occupying a little lessarea than the coupon 18 of Figs. 5-7. It would, however, be made in thesame way by a coining of the Wire and would have frangible sections atits ends 29 and 30. Like the coupon 18, it would, of course, beconsiderably thinner than the coupon 8, since the latter would be anormal extension of the flattened portion 6 of the key stock. The coupon28 is also readily adaptable for the application of indicia as indicatedat 31.

It is, of course, to be understood that certain changes may be made inthe above product and diiferent em- 30 bodiments of the invention couldbe made without de- Then the coupon 18 can be 15 tended that all mattercontained in the above description, or shown in the accompanyingdrawing, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A metal key for use in actuating a tear strip comprising, a bodyportion including a handle portion, a shank portion extending from saidhandle portion and a flattened slotted portion extending from said shankportion, a plurality of flattened removable elements integral with saidbody portion and extending outwardly from said slotted portion, one ofsaid removable elements being integrally connected to said body portionand the next adjacent one of said removable elements being integrallyconnected to said one element, said integral connections for saidremovable elements being reduced in cross section to render themweakened and readily breakable, said one of said removable elementsbeing formed with indicia thereon.

2. A metal key as in claim 1 and including said integral connectionbetween said first and next adjacent elements being weaker and morereadily breakable than said integral connection between said body andsaid one removable element.

Stollberg u Apr. 15, 1930 1,979,960 Coughlin Nov. 6, 1934 2,258,610Hothersall Oct. 14, 1941 Breeze Oct. 20, 1953

